First, a special announcement

I was asked by the NFCA to help out and present a webinar titled “The Gluten-Free Effect on Athletes: Improving Performance Through Diet.” This free webinar will be taking place on September 21st, at 8:30 PM EST. (Yes, Kristin at the NFCA (who has been incredibly helpful and awesome, by the way) has talked me into staying up past my normal bedtime. Ya’ll can tell me a bedtime story after the webinar.)

Click here to register. Make sure to sign up ahead of time, because we will be accepting audience questions before the event. I’m very excited and happy to be involved with such a great organization and event.

OK, onward!

Gluten Free and Celiac Stuff

Amy at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free has designed a Labor Day Menu for you. Total yummies. Definitely check it out. I bookmarked some of these to make for our “not really a wedding reception” party here at the house in October.

Karina, the Gluten Free Goddess, shared a recipe for Gluten Free Peach Cobbler. The recipe looks fabulous, but my favorite part of the post is her commentary. Check it out, I’m not giving a spoiler.

Carrie at Ginger Lemon Girl shared a guest post from David Abed on Gluten Free Hurricane/Disaster Preparedness. This is important stuff for us all, and I am especially aware of it living in South Florida. We are now in the busiest part of hurricane season, and although the past few years have been quiet, we cannot be complacent. The memory of 3 weeks without power when Wilma hit here is very fresh in my mind, and of course no one can forget Katrina. Be prepared for the worst, and then everything else is a pleasant surprise.

Everyday Paleo is a blog devoted to feeding a family paleo-style. They are gluten free by choice, not necessarily for celiac disease, and share lots of tips and recipe ideas. I especially liked this one for Paleo Pizza.

Nutrition News

I’ve mentioned before that I like to use coconut oil and coconut flour in recipes, and did so in my Cookies that are Almost Good for You post. There’s lots of information out there on coconut products, but I always like to see it from a neutral (i.e. not financially involved) standpoint. Stephan at the Whole Health Source blog is one smart gluten free cookie, and he is doing a series on tropical plant fats. This post examines the science behind coconut oil. If you are even a little bit a science geek like me, you’ll dig Stephan’s blog. I made a new recipe using coconut cream that I’ll be sharing this week.

Dr. Stephen Wangen wrote a great post on Understanding the Healthcare Business. This is important stuff. I’ve been working in healthcare for 14 years (holy cow) and have seen it from every angle. As a provider, as a patient, as a case manager for insurance companies, and as a specialist appealing denials, I’ve seen it all. It’s so important for people to understand their policy, what it covers and what it doesn’t. Do this when you are well. There’s lots of confu Understand sing language, so don’t hesitate to make a call and get someone to explain it to you in plain English. Nothing is free, ever. If your policy covers an ambulance ride 100%, great. But it’s not free. Either you are paying for it in your premiums, your employer is, or the taxpayers are. Nothing is free. Understand your policy, and be your own healthcare advocate. If you can’t, find someone who can. (Steps down from my soapbox.)

Thanks to Amanda at Gluten Free Maui for the heads up on this product!

For many of us with celiac disease or gluten intolerance, other food intolerances come along for the ride. I personally seem to do just fine with dairy, and for a very long time I only used whey and/or casein (dairy derived) protein powders when the need arose. After learning how common dairy intolerance was, I did a bit of research and compiled Dairy Free/Gluten Free protein powder 101. There are several options out there that are dairy and gluten free.

(Side note: Of course, eat whole “real” food whenever possible. However, there are instances where a protein powder can be much more convenient, and it can also be used as a sweet treat.)

It leaps tall buildings in a single bound…whoops, wrong superhero

PlantFusion

PlantFusion is a “multisource plant protein.” Basically, they’ve taken the options that I previously outlined in DF/GF protein powder 101 and combined them. The protein blend uses pea protein, brown rice protein, and artichoke (!) protein. This is a good thing, because these different proteins have complementary amino acids when combined together.

They call it a “hypoallergenic protein” because of the things it does NOT contain:

No Dairy

No Soy

No Eggs

No Wheat

No Gluten

No Peanuts

No Tree Nuts

No Fish

No Shellfish

Voila-it’s vegan!

Also, PlantFusion protein uses stevia as a sweetener. That is my personal sweetener of choice, so I was happy to see that.

I purchased a trial pack which contained one of each flavor: chocolate, vanilla, and unflavored.

(Funnily enough, the PlantFusion website does not have a shopping cart, nor does it send you to a site where you can but the products. I had to google search it.)

Review

The individual samples came in what looked like a vitamin bottle, not a pouch, and that was the first time I’ve seen that type of packaging for a protein powder.

The taste is good-not overly sweet. It does have a thicker consistency from the pea protein. It does have a distinctive taste, not unpleasant, but distinctive as the vegan proteins I’ve tried in the past have had. Almost an earthy nuttiness.

I do like the unflavored option, which would make it easy to add into baked goods or homemade protein bars, almond meal pancakes, or really any other application, sweet or savory.

All in all, this is a great option for those who cannot tolerate the dairy proteins, and yet need a portable and convenient protein boost.

Gluten-Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. The problem in celiac disease and gluten intolerance is when this protein causes an inflammatory reaction in the small intestine.

Diet-A way of eating, not a restrictive one, just a way to eat. No expectations that a diet has to be a bad thing. It’s just a nutrition plan, that is all.

Calorie-Technically the amount of energy it takes to heat a gram of water 1 degree Celsius. For our purposes consider it a unit of energy, also something important to look at food labels.

Macronutrient-These are proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Also referred to as “macros.”

Micronutrients-Vitamins, minerals, all the other good stuff.

Protein-one of the macronutrients, composed of amino acids. Generally found in meats, beans, dairy, and in small amounts in grain product and some fat sources. Each gram of protein contains approximately 4 calories.

Carbohydrates-another macro, revered or hated depending on what diet book is hot. There are complex and simple carbs, fruits/veggies/grains contain a relatively larger amount of carbs. Also 4 calories per gram.

Fats-another victim of redheaded stepchild syndrome. Includes the omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, and also unsaturated fats (mono and poly) as well as saturated fat. These will not kill you if eaten in moderation.

Maintenance-Eating the amount of calories which will keep your scale weight at a given level. Usually given water weight fluctuations within a few pounds.

Deficit-Eating less calories than you expend, resulting in weight/fat loss. A deficit is generally achieved by a combination of eating less and moving more.

Surplus-Eating more calories than you expend, resulting in weight gain, which may be muscle, fat or a combination. When done intentionally, this could be good. Unintentionally, not so much.

Glycemic Index/Glycemic Load-Numbers to confuse you. These are supposed to give you an idea of how quickly these items are broken down into the smallest unit and enter your bloodstream. Pretty much useless because it doesn’t take into account eating these items in conjunction with another. So don’t worry about it too much, it’s a piece of information that you can use, not the be all end all.